Be Prepared
by HERBIVORE MUNCH
Summary: His crest dictates that he be there for his friends, but sometimes Joe has ulterior motives. Short, somewhat cheese, Jyoumi.


**Damn...I'm a pretty bad writer, huh? Oh well, I'm still under my "One update a year" limit I set for myself, so have yourselves something I started probably about the same time Gundam UC episode 6 came out...wow, that long ago? Damn...**

**Well, it's a little Jyoumi one-shot that I don't think I'm gonna take anywhere else. If I do (and I could...) I'll edit the end for future chapters. Well...enjoy.**

Be Prepared

It burned. He didn't know what, or why, but something inside him burned. For weeks, it ate at him, and Joe couldn't put his finger on it. Every day, he did the same thing. Got up, ate, walked to school, walked home via the same route, ate, studied, showered and slept. Nothing ever changed for him, and yet he felt different. Scientifically, it made no sense. Something that experiences no change in routine should not experience a change in physiology or emotion. He was straight up baffled.

All his friends seemed happy. Tai and Sora were going great as a couple; the envy of their school in fact. They did everything together, they never fought, and they both just seemed happy. Kari and TK too. They never fought and always were together. They were more public about their affection than Tai and Sora, but they weren't show-offy in their love. Everyone else was happy too. Mimi had had a few boyfriends in the past few months, but had dumped them all very quickly. Joe couldn't see why. They all seemed fine to him. At least they did until this burning started. Izzy had gotten an upgrade for his laptop, and everyone seemed fine.

Everyone but Matt.

Matt never seemed anything these days. Not happy, not sad, not even in between. And boy, did he ever have the right to be. Matt had liked Sora before the "love machine" formed, and was devastated when he heard the news. But he was strong, and shook it off. Not two months later, though, he tried to get with Mimi. Even Joe knew that was a bad idea. But Matt was confident and where that would work on other girls, Mimi was something else. Confident boys were frequently torn apart by her, and Matt was no different. Joe had read the texts: she wasn't cruel to him, but she made it very clear that she was not interested and it broke him. It sort of put the rest of the group in an awkward place, Joe especially. The group seemed to sexually stratify; the girls tended to side with Mimi, the boys with Matt. It didn't hurt the couples, though, as they were too lost in their own worlds to be hurt by another's squabble. But Joe was in the middle, as usual. He had grown increasingly more distant from all the digidestined as he grew up and school became more difficult. All but Mimi. She and him had actually grown closer; a blessing and a curse. Mimi was used to one circuit, one that Joe didn't fit into. Her friends on that side did their best to help her, but sometimes she just needed someone different. That was Joe. Even though he didn't look it, he knew his way around relationships just fine. He'd never been in one, no, but he knew what was what. He didn't know how he knew, but he did, and he had helped Mimi out of quite few jams before and was always willing to talk things out with her. At first, he worked in his "Mimi time" around his school work. But then the burning started, and his work found its way around her. He spent every moment he could doing his work so that he could have just that much more time to talk to her. Soon, they were closer than anyone (minus the couples, of course.) Mimi may have told Sora everything, but Joe always knew first. They had developed a bond that started in the digital word and only grew stronger from there. No one could get between them. So when she had broken Matt's heart, it left him, once again, in the middle.

He couldn't side with Matt, because he honestly believed Mimi was right. She didn't like Matt and even if she was a little harsh in her word choices, no meant no, and he had to accept that. But Joe still felt like he owed it to Matt to side with him. He decided to abstain from any of the guys attempts to cheer Matt up.

But he still burned, and he didn't know why.

Not for awhile, at least...

His phone buzzed it self off the desk where he was working. He mumbled to himself, but bent down to pick it up. He was very busy and the caller should know not to disturb him when he was working. Without looking at who was calling, he answered it. Politely, but with an edge to his voice.

"Joe Kido."

"Joe?" a small, yet very familiar voice said.

He fell out of his chair with surprise and self-directed anger. "Oh, Hi Mimi." he said,

getting back into his chair. Of course it could be Mimi! What was he thinking. Suddenly, his work didn't seem very important. "What's up? Is something wrong?"

Rather than answer, she started crying.

"Oh, Mimi..." he half-whined, looking around and closing all his books. "Are you home? I'll be right over."

"Thank you." she said as he hung up.

He grabbed a few things for the road and hoofed it over to the Tachikawa mansion.

He knock on the door, completely out of breath and was greeted by the families butler, Kaori Kyote.

"Mister Kido." Kyote said, opening the door. "What brings you around here this late at night?"

"Oh, I came to see Mimi-er, Miss Tachikawa, um, sir."

Kyote raised an eyebrow, but let him in. "Make it quick, sir. Mr. Tachikawa is not fond of young men such as yourself hanging around his daughter this late at night...if at all."

"Yes sir, completely understand." Joe bowed and quickly bumbled in and up the stairs to Mimi's room. He stopped at the door and took a deep breath to calm himself. Not just from the butlers insinuations, but the burning. He needed to be calm for Mimi. He lightly knocked on the door. "Mimi?" he called softly. He heard her crying through the door, and pushed it open slowly, cautious at what he might find. He called again, a bit louder.

His eyes were hit with a barrage of pink as he entered her room. She was lying on her bed, head in the pillow, bawling. He walked over and sat next to her for a minute, just staring. Finally, he put his hand on her shoulder lightly and she jumped in surprise.

"Oh, Joe..." she sat up, wiping tears off her face. "Hi..."

"What happened, Mimi?" he asked, very sincerely. She leapt into a new wave of tears and onto his body, pushing them off the bed and rather awkwardly to the floor.

"Jeez, Mimi!" he half laughed and struggled to get up from under her. She only held him tighter, however.

"I'm sorry, Joe." she said. "I didn't mean to..."

"Hey, it's alright. Lets get you up and we can talk."

"Thanks Joe." she said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"So what happened?" he asked, squatting in front of her with his hands on her knees. She curled her face, as if she were about to cry again, causing him to retract his question. ""Uh-Ok. Let's...let's not talk about it. How 'bout we go for a walk and maybe get you some ice cream, Kay?"

She sniffled, but nodded. "Ok..."

Joe picked her out a coat: a marvelous feat in all actuality and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they headed out. They went down the stairs and out the door, drawing a questioning look from Kyote. Here was this strange boy leading the young girl out of the house with an arm around her shoulders. "Miss, your father will not allow for you to be leaving this late with some boy!" he spat the word like an insult, causing Mimi to pucker more. Before she could say anything, however, Joe spun around.  
"Hey! Can't you tell she needs some ice cream?" he snapped, hurrying her out the rest of the way. Kyote was momentarily stunned, but went off to take care of something he knew he had to do. It was for her own good, after all.

"Joe, theres not a cloud in the sky. Why do have an umbrella?" Mimi asked him with a giggle, momentarily forgetting her troubles. She was right, though. It was a beautiful September night and there was not a cloud anywhere in sight; likely not in Japan. But Joe still brought his umbrella with him.

He laughed. "It never hurts to be prepared." She smiled, but still looked like she was about to lose it. He put his arm around her shoulders again. "It's alright." He smiled, squeezing her close. "It's gonna be fine."

She sniffled. "I know, Joe. Can we just..."

"Of course. We'll just get you some ice cream, then we can talk." He looked at her and smiled again. "If you want to, that is..."

"Thanks..." she sighed. "I do."

"Alright, then. Lets go." He grabbed her hand and dragged her down the street to the nearest ice cream parlor. He didn't think of it, but the burning intensified with her hand in his. He thought it was just the speed of their travel making him burn...

She laughed as he ran, calling for him to slow down, holding onto her hat with her free hand. She hadn't worn this hat in years, and it felt good to relive those days with a close friend. But was that all it was? She thought it was, but things started to change. No more was Joe this lanky, awkward boy in men's shoes. He was tall, smart, fun-loving, kind. He even cut his hair. She had been trying to get him to do it for years, but it wasn't until recently that he had started taking her seriously. And she had to say, she rather liked it. It seemed like that all she had to do was mention a problem and he'd come running to fix it. She knew he was busy and that all these problems were hurting his schooling, but she loved the attention; she always had. Even tonight, he dropped everything and came running for her. At least, she thought he did. He was as busy as a Pre Med school would make him, usually. So she thought it safe to assume he had homework that he was ignoring just for her. While this flattered her, she couldn't help but wonder why...

They arrived at the ice cream shop to the quite unwelcoming sight of a line. Normal days, they would've left: Joe being practical, Mimi being impatient. But today was special. Mimi really just wanted to be there with someone she trusted. She wasn't sure about Sora anymore...

As they stood in line, Joe peppered her with questions. Not important ones; just about her day and the weather and anything else he could think of to distract her while they waited. He knew she would talk when she was ready to. All he needed to do was be here when she was.

Two scoops and twenty minutes later, she was ready to talk. They were sitting on the concrete edge of a planter with a tree inside. They had walked from the shop down the two miles to the park by the bay, and sat and joked about small things. He didn't remember what he had said, but something made her choke on ice cream and her own laughter, almost falling off the planter. This itself caused her to laugh more, silently, but then out loud when she swallowed the mouthful of Vanilla and sprinkles. This caused him to laugh, and then her, and then him in a large laughing circle. Finally, they composed themselves. Mimi inhaled and sighed, suddenly looking miserable. Her cheeks were a rosey red, which struck Joe as odd, seeing how it was 50 degrees out (10 Celsius), and her eyes were glassy. She held on to the edge of the concrete and looked down.

"You know about the Matt stuff, right?" she asked, eyes on a small crack in the street.

"Yeah...is that what this is about? Mimi, no one blames you for that, they-"

"Yes the do, Joe!" she looked up into his face and he could see the tears running down her face. "They all do...every one of them. I'll even bet Izzy is against me now..."

"You don't know that. You're just overreacting."

"TK called me today, Joe..." she started sobbing again, still looking at him. "...he called me...and told me...that they all hated me...everyone..."

"Well I don't, so obviously everyone doesn't..."

"Well, you don't count, Joe!"

He recoiled. "...why not?"

She looked down again, her face redder. "No reason..."

"Mimi..." he started. "You know you can trust me."

She looked up and thought for a moment. Joe could almost see the thoughts running in her brain as she leaned back and sighed.

"It's not that I didn't like him, Joe." she started, changing the subject. "I really did. I really wanted to date Matt, but..." Suddenly, she was leaning forward with her head buried in her hands, crying again. In an instant, his arm was around her, trying to calm her, trying to help her through.

"It's ok, Mimi. I'm here. You'll be fine."

She sniffled and sat up. "It's my father." she said. "He...he likes a certain type of guy and won't let any other type near me. And his "choices" are just nasty. They all think I'm just gonna...I don't know, just accept them or something. They're all so snooty and boring. I know Daddy's a part of that crowd, but that doesn't mean I have to be." She looked Joe right in the eyes. "The year I spent in America was the best year of my life, Joe. I was free from him. I was free! The time I spent with Michael, the things he showed me, the..." she blushed and looked away, "...things we did." She looked back at him with all seriousness. "I have never been so happy, Joe."

"Why did you come back?" he asked quietly. Of course, he was glad that she came back. He had missed her so much. But if she had been happy there and miserable here, then he too wished she would've stayed.

She looked away. "I didn't want to...but he..."

Joe nodded, catching on. Her father caught wind of her wild American life and called her back. And now she had to sit in this pain as he slowly destroyed all of her friendships.

He looked at his watch. Somehow it had gotten really late. "Oh, crap! Mimi, we gotta go!" He grabbed her hand and started to lead her back to her house. Joe wasn't known for his courage, and he believed he had real reason to be afraid of Mimi's father, so getting her home was likely in their best interest. She understood and ran after him.

Her insides felt weak as they ran: a mixture of sorrow and happiness. She hated her father, and yet she didn't. She was thankful for Joe, and yet anxious. She was sad, and she was happier than ever. So happy, in fact, that she didn't notice when the sky began to darken. They were still a mile or so away from her home when the rain began.

Mimi let out a little eep as the sky let loose it's water. Joe quickly began to fumble with his umbrella, but they both got pretty wet before it was up. "Ah!" Joe threw it up and over himself and Mimi was quick to get under.

It wasn't the biggest umbrella. To both stay dry, their faces were merely an inch or so apart. It was Mimi who noticed the proximity first. She could feel Joe's breath on her nose, and she froze.

Joe looked down at her, looking up at him, and all the burning he had been feeling disappeared. Is this what he wanted?

"Uh, Mimi...?" He started, but couldn't continue. She seemed to be dragging him in with just her face.

Her lips were open slightly, and her eyes focused hard on Joe. There was no thinking, no planning. She leaned the extra centimeters in and kissed him. The splashes of the rain and the chill of the wind died away as she held her lips on his, finally feeling a burn of her own. This is what she wanted, and she thought this is what he wanted too.

Of course, Joe kissed back. If Mimi needed him, he was always happy to assist. Especially if it meant kissing this goddess. He had wanted this for so long, but hadn't realized it until just now. He was in love, plain and simple.

Too quickly it seemed, Mimi pulled away and smiled up. "What was that for?" Joe asked with no malice.

She looked up at the umbrella. "For keeping me dry."

He smiled back, knowing that it wasn't just the umbrella holding off the rain. He turned and put his arm on her shoulder and she snuggled up under his arm. "Let's get you home."

"You're always so prepared."

"Well, you know what they say."

**I kinda rushed the ending to get it out on time...yeah not my best work. Hope you all enjoyed it anyways. Munch out. **


End file.
